1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solar photovoltaic-thermal system, and more particularly to an integrated system having a solar heat collection assembly with a light collection cavity and having a double-glass solar cell component.
2. Description of the Related Art
Solar energy is the most prevalently used environmentally friendly source of energy. Generally, there are two principal manners by which solar energy is utilized. In the first manner, a solar heat collector directly absorbs radiant heat from sunlight, and in the second manner, solar energy is converted into electric energy by utilizing the photovoltaic effect of a solar cell.
Solar heat collectors are most commonly employed in solar heaters, which are generally operated by guiding sunlight to a water pipe through a condensing reflecting plate or a vacuum heat collector, so that optical energy from sunlight is converted into heat energy to heat water in the pipe.
The solar cell assembly is generally formed by combining a multilayered structure of glass, ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), a photovoltaic component and a solar energy back sheet, and peripheral components such as an outer frame made of aluminum, galvanized steel sheet, wood and synthetic materials (such as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) and ethylene propylene rubber), a junction box, lead wires, and a battery. Under sunlight irradiation, the solar cell assembly outputs a certain working voltage and working current through photovoltaic effect. However, efficiency of the solar cell assembly is limited, and a large part of solar energy is converted into heat energy and accumulated in a solar energy component, which results in increased temperature of the solar energy component and causes damage to the solar cell assembly and decrease in the total output power. If the solar cell assembly and the solar heat collector can be integrated to form a solar photovoltaic-thermal system, not only can solar energy be utilized more effectively, but also the heat energy accumulated by the solar energy component can be effectively reduced, thereby avoiding the aforementioned problems. Moreover, integration of the solar cell assembly and the solar heat collector to form a solar photovoltaic-thermal system may also reduce the amount of materials required, which would be economically beneficial.
The present invention provides a highly efficient and reliable solar photovoltaic-thermal system.